Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

This is going to be a very schizophrenic book review. You'll see what I mean as you read on. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan is my first zombie (unconsecrated) novel. I've read a zombie graphic novel and a zombie short story but not a full length novel about these monsters. I, for one, am not a fan of zombie literature. That said, I did feel that the topic zombies was well-played in this book. There was not a lot of the blood and gore that I expected when I decided to read this book.

Mary, the novel's protagonist, believes that there is life beyond the walls of the fence that separate her village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth and the relentless Unconsecrated who constantly try to get through to attack the residents within. But few others believe that anyone else exists in the world. When a breech does occur and chaos rules the day, Mary, her betrothed, her brother, and a few friends, are forced to make a decision which could either save their lives or kill them. Mary is driven by dreams of life "beyond."

What I liked about the book is the tension that is written into the scenes of potential attacks, of what could possibly be around the next corner. I kept getting that horror-movie-feeling where I wanted to scream out, "Don't open that door!"

What I didn't like about the story was how I had a hard time connecting with the characters and their motivations. People sulked, were angry, professed love, disavowed friendship for unclear motives. The cover says that the book is a beautiful love story. But I had a hard time seeing the relationship as anything but passion or lust.

Even though I was critical of the book throughout, I do want to read the sequel, Dead Tossed Waves. Questions were raised right at the end of this book that I want to see resolved. (I told you that this review would be schizophrenic!) I should mention that I started listening to this on audiobooks. The gal who read it (Vane Millon) has a nice voice but she reads really, really slowly. It was almost torture listening to her. I had to switch to an actual book. Some novels are enhanced in the audio format. Others are made worse because of a poor reader.  This book suffered in the audio format which probably tainted my opinion of the book.

To be fair, a lot of reviewers really liked this book and I found it very exciting, at times.  It is worth the effort, especially if you like post-apocalyptic, zombie-type novels.